DirecTV Sues Over False Accounts

4/19/2005 6:39 AM Eastern

By: Linda Haugsted

A total of 12 people, including 10 former customer-service representatives for a DirecTV Inc. call center, have been sued by the direct-broadcast satellite company for an alleged scheme where the insiders got programming for people who didn't pay for the service.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, follows a long internal investigation by DirecTV into suspicious activity at a Pharr, Texas, call center. That facility is operated by an outside vendor.

The suit alleged that the defendants violated the Federal Communications Act, as well as federal wiretap and Texas state laws.

According to the suit, the insiders used their positions to create subscription accounts with false information, then activated access cards and linked them to legitimate existing accounts by misrepresenting the identity and the relationship of the person using the illegal cards. They also allegedly acquired access cards to set up additional false accounts and shipped the cards around the country.

DirecTV noted that the suspects have been terminated or suspended from the call center. The company added that no customer information was compromised by the call center.